Steyn drops Bulls into Super 14 final

[pieter blackie]

Man of the match Morne Steyn sent over four drop goals in the Bulls semi-final as the Bulls beat the Crusaders by 36 points to 23.

The Bulls had to come back from being 7-20 down as the Crusaders enjoyed some early dominance but then the Bulls bounced back and took the lead on the half time mark so the team's went in for half time at 27-20.

The Bulls will now host the 2009 Super14 final and the Chiefs will have to travel to Loftus Versfeld to contest the final next week on Saturday and the kick off will be at 5.30 South African time.

As an indication of how the game went the Crusaders were made to make 94 tackles to the Bulls 55.

Morne Steyn also converted the three Bulls tries before a capacity 52,000 Loftus Versfeld crowd and kicked a penalty to consolidate his position as top scorer in the southern hemisphere championship with 172 points

Final Score Bulls 36 Crusaders 23

Scorers
Bulls
Tries - Bryan Habana, Akona Ndungane, Pierre Spies
Pen -Morne Steyn
Con - Morne Steyn 3
Drop - Morne Steyn 4

Crusaders
Tries - Adam Whitelock,Kieran Read
Pen - Stephen Brett, Leon MacDonald
Con - Leon MacDonald 2
Drop -Andy Ellis
Cards - Yellow (35)Thomas Waldrom


Match Officials
Referee: Bryce Lawrence (New Zealand)
Assistant referees: Mark Lawrence (South Africa), Garratt Williamson (New Zealand)
Television match official: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

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Steyn drops Bulls into Super 14 final

[JediKnight]

Fantastic match & sets up an intriguing final next week.

As an aside, isn't it about time that drop-goals are reduced to 1 point (or even only allowed in the last 5 minutes of each half)?

[pieter blackie]

As an aside, isn't it about time that drop-goals are reduced to 1 point (or even only allowed in the last 5 minutes of each half)?

Even without the drop goals the score would have been 24-20 in the Bulls favour. Leave drop goals alone it is part of the game!!!

[lara93]

great game!
shall be an intense final next week! cant wait!

[force addict]

stupid drop goals.
sure, one is fine. but 4? seriously. thats 12 points accumulated already

[James]

I'm with PB. The Crusaders were under the pump. I mean if it was the old laws and not the ELVs you'd be complaining about the 15 penalty goals Steyn kicked for the Bulls final score of 45. At least drop goals are much harder to land and it may not be as exciting as scoring tries but thats the reality of KO rugby.

[lara93]

saders just switched off

[oxleymoron]

At least drop goals are much harder to land and it may not be as exciting as scoring tries but thats the reality of KO rugby.

Exactly James. Jannie De Beer landed 5 drop goals in the 1999 RWC qtr final against England, Johnny kicked 3 against the frogs in the 2003 RWC semi.

Before last night, the most drop goals in a S14 game was 3 by Andrew Mehrtens and Louie Koen.

[tragic]

Bulls were better on the night: they deserved the win, drop-goals or no. Steyn was given the room and opportunity, and took it.

I don't think drop-goals should go, but I don't think they should be worth 3 points.

"Thou shalt not kick. Run it."

[zimeric]

bulls were the better team but i dont believe a game should be decided on who can put through a drop goal.. firstly they are virtually undefensable and secondly they contribute too many points. They are demoralising for the defending team to the point that they will just shrug and say .. well what can we do?

i say keep them there but reduce their impact on the game, 2 or 1 point not 3... effectively its the same as a penalty except the other team hasnt made any infringement. i was so annoyed that the bulls decided that that was the way they wanted to win the game... especially when they were playing such great open rugby.

[Darren]

Personally, I think drop goals are an intrinsic part of the game, they are also one of the few constants between different styles of play - any team can perform them if they choose to (and have a skilled enough kicker).

Drop goals have always existed as a scoring opportunity in rugby of equal or greater value to a penalty, and I reckon they should continue so. If you reduce drop goals value, other points awarded from kicking opportunities should also be reduced.

[jargan83]

Too many drop goals.........boring

apart from that it was a pretty good game, which was a shame because the Bulls were always on top in the second half when Steyn decided to open up

[welshrugbyfan]

The ELV's were a bad enough adjustment to make on the game, lets leave the drop goal and points value alone its concrete now.

They used to award 4 points for a drop goal.

A try used to be worth no points when the game first started, and the word "try" was being able to kick the ball over the posts. 1 point came in in 1889 for the first eight years, then it went to 6 for a while. Then it went to 3, 4 and finally 5 in 1992 I think was the year.

Incidentally a conversion has always been 2 points and a penalty has also always been 3 points.

More useless information stored in the WRF brain.

And further: Without a drop goal the legendary Newport RFC would not have beaten the All Blacks.

[beige]

That was also how gridiron started - when they decided to make tries worth more than goals. Just think, if the rugby authorities had just figure that out sooner...

As for last night, it was still an entertaining game regardless of all the droppies. You're only gonna get them if there's a good platform in front of you anyway so it's still a reward for good play.

[jargan83]

on the plus side it did help my fantasy team out